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Maria Thorpe
'Maria Thorpe '(1161-1228) was a high-ranking English noblewoman of the Knights Templar who later defected to the Assassins Order and married the master Altair Ibn-La'Ahad after trying to kill him in Jerusalem in 1191. Biography Early Templar career Maria Thorpe was born in England to a rich, upper-class, noble family that owned their own land. Thorpe was a tomboy and chose not to act in a womanly fashion, and was punished by her parents and pestered by others. In 1179 she was forced to marry Sir Peter Hallaton, but she left his company after four years, uninterested in being his wife. An annullment was carried out, and she was forced to live in shame. Rather than stay in England disgraced, she decided to join the Crusaders in the Holy Lands and join the Knights Templar. Maria was often in the disguise of a man while serving among a religious order consisting mostly of men, and she gained the trust and friendship of Grand Master Robert de Sable, who appointed her as his personal steward. Even after she revealed her gender, she was respected by her comrades. Meeting Altair She was trusted so much that she was given the task of assassinating the man sent to kill De Sable during the Third Crusade, a member of the Hashshashin named Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, who had killed eight other Templars. Robert correctly reasoned that he was next and announced that he would attend the funeral of Jerusalem's regent Majd ad-Din as a sign of peace and respect between Christians and Muslims. However, Maria dressed up as him and wore a Great Helm as a disguise so that she could kill Altair. When the Imam pointed out Altair at the funeral, the Templars and Saracens attacked him, so he ran away, trying to evade them. She tried to attack him, but Altair counterattacked, slashed her chest, and stabbed her throat. Altair took her helmet off and was surprised, and found out from Maria that Robert had fled to join Richard the Lionheart at the Battle of Arsuf in 1191. Altair's Wife When the Assassin Altair killed Robert de Sable in 1192, Maria was pushed out of the Order of Templars by their new leader, Armand Bouchart. At his point her hatred for Altair was limitless ... until he managed to show her the true corruption of the Templars through patient and careful counsel. In time - after traveling, studying, and working counsel - Altair and Maria became close friends, then lovers. By 1193 Maria was as committed to Altair as he was to her. Having no good reasons to return to her husband, she chose instead to remain at Masyaf and immerse herself in the life and Creed of the Assassins. By the time Maria and Altair had their first child in 1195, they were inseparable, with their only prolonged separation occurring in 1204 during Altair's failed attempt to establish a Guild in Constantinople. In 1217 - now approaching sixty years old - Maria joined her husband and her oldest son, Darim, on a long journey east, after Altair had determined the threat of encroaching Mongols was too large to ignore. Absent from Masyaf for over ten years, the couple grew closer still, their lives entwined, and their hearts aching for home. Death In 1228, Altair and Maria returned home when they heard that their youngest son Sef Ibn-La'Ahad had been executed by Abbas. Abbas met them behind the tower at the courtyard where Al Mualim had been struck down, and Abbas demanded the Apple in exchange for the truth. Abbas sent Swami to take the Apple from Altair, and when Swami told Altair that Abbas had said to Sef that Altair had ordered his execution and that he died believing that Altair betrayed him, Altair tried to use the Apple against Swami. Maria told Altair to stop, and when he did, Swami stabbed Maria in the back and Altair stabbed Swami in the neck. Maria's last words were "Strength, Altair", and she died in his arms. Category:1161 births Category:1228 deaths Category:English noblewomen Category:English Category:Noblewomen Category:Catholics Category:Templars Category:Hashshashin Category:Killed